Mulayam Singh Yadav critical of UPA govt

Akola, Jan 20 (UNI) Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today lambasted the Congress-led UPA government at the centre for ignoring the interests of farmers and weaker sections of society.

Addressing a largely-attended public meeting at the Akola cricket club ground, Yadav said no farmer would be allowed to commit suicide if the newly-formed United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) comes to power after the next general elections.

In a spirited 20-minute speech, the former UP chief minister gave an assurance that the entire loan of farmers would be waived off.

He regretted that despite India being an agro-based country, farmers were still living below the poverty line.

Yadav alleged that the unity of the country is under threat due to the policies of the UPA government and exhorted the people ''to remove this government after the 2009 general elections, as it is not interested in welfare of the poor and downtrodden.'' He lauded the contribution of Om Prakash Chautala, former Haryana chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, former AP chief minister, and Dr Farooq Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, who worked in the interests of people from all the sections of society.

All of them were present on the dais along with the SP general secretary Amar Singh.

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